An Israeli cybersecurity firm has achieved a major financial milestone, securing a massive investment round that catapults it into the coveted unicorn club. Torq, a Tel Aviv-based startup, is set to announce it has successfully closed a funding round of $140 million, elevating its company valuation to an impressive $1.2 billion.
From ChatGPT Inspiration to a Unicorn Security Platform
Founded in January 2020, Torq's journey took a pivotal turn with the advent of generative AI. The company's CEO and co-founder, Ofer Smadari, revealed that the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 presented a clear opportunity. This insight led Torq to fundamentally shift its focus towards building AI agents specifically for security operations.
"By the end of 2022, ChatGPT came into our life, and we saw the opportunity to start building agents and AI functionality," Smadari stated. The company launched its first AI agent for security operations in the summer of 2023. The core premise of Torq's platform is to automate the tedious, repetitive tasks that overwhelm security teams, such as sifting through endless alerts, allowing human experts to concentrate on more complex and dangerous threats.
Automating Everything in Cybersecurity
Torq markets itself as an autonomous security operations platform built from the ground up with artificial intelligence. It uses AI agents to handle routine work, preventing backlogs and freeing up valuable human resources. "You don't want your team to have a huge backlog and using your team just to do the simple things while you can automate everything," explained Smadari. He emphasized that the platform's goal is comprehensive automation, claiming, "You can automate and remediate everything."
The significant funding round was led by Merlin Ventures. It also saw participation from a group of existing investors, including Evolution Equity Partners, Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Venture Partners, and Greenfield Partners. The investment confirms earlier reports from Israeli media outlet TheMarker about Torq reaching unicorn status, though the specific financial figures were not disclosed at that time.
Experienced Founders Building During a Crisis
The team behind Torq brings considerable experience to the table. Smadari and his co-founders previously started Luminate Security in 2017, selling it to Symantec Corp. for $250 million in under two years. They embarked on the Torq venture just as the Covid-19 pandemic began to unfold globally. Smadari recalled their mindset at the time: "We said, 'There is nothing like a big worldwide crisis to build another company.'"
Today, Torq has grown to employ more than 300 people across its offices in Israel and the United States. This latest injection of capital is expected to fuel further expansion and development of its AI-driven cybersecurity solutions, positioning it as a key player in the rapidly evolving field of automated security.
